Friends in Vancouver

Friday night we went to see Snakes on a Plane with Burt and his Chinese gang. It was a good bad movie. Now I have the Cobra Starship (WARNING: Coarse language and general cheesiness) song in my head. Maybe I should dye my hair blond (again).

Saturday we were invited to a BBQ at Kelly and Kim's place. We had a great time talking about TV and movies. Kelly is attending Vancouver Film School and is going to be a director. No small feat. She challenges me to rethink some of my assumptions about how my life will unfold.

My former piano teacher, Willa Meyers, was in town to babysit for her daughter, Chloe Meyers and her husband, Alexander Weimann while they played concerts in Festival Vancouver. I attended on of their concerts, Bach's German Influences, which was for two violins and continuo. Alex's harpsichord solo, the Krieger Passacaglia in D minor, was thrilling! Does anyone fancy a double trill? How about a killer virtuoso left hand passage echoed by the right hand? Biber's Sonata ("Representativa") in A Major was a humorous, virtuosic piece. Most of the movements imitated bird song. The finale, the Goldberg Sonata in C Major, was drop-dead gorgeous. It was one of those moments where the world disappears, and all that remains is beauty and enchantment.

We all entered to win the door prize at intermission which was "a CD." Just before the draw, the festival director announced that the prize would be Alex's most recent CD. Gord Meyers won. Yes, Alex's father-in-law won the CD! Willa passed it on to me, so now I'm the winner.

Everyone went out to the campus pub after the concert. Chloe provided me with a different point of view on teaching in students' homes. She made lasting emotional bonds with the families of her students by being invited into their homes and being a regular part of family life. I had never thought of it that way; I had only seen the negative aspect of being stuck in traffic and wasting time. (I'm a pessimistic optimist.) Now that I don't have a piano at home, I will have to be a traveling teacher, which is apparently huge here in Vancouver. There is also a nice piano studio I can rent for one day a week if I get enough students.

Missy is coming for a visit this week! That is a fantastic incentive for me to unpack more boxes.

P.S. Phone and email are working now.